Job Search Memory

CRITICAL RULES (CHECK EVERY TIME)

• NEVER use em-dash (—) in ANY generated content - cover letters, notes, emails, anything. Use a hyphen surrounded by spaces ( - ), a comma, or rephrase the sentence. "Says an old TeXie." This applies to ALL languages.
• FRENCH ACCENTS ARE MANDATORY: When writing ANY French text (cover letters, notes, anything), ALWAYS use proper diacritics: é, è, ê, ë, à, â, ù, û, ô, î, ï, ç, etc. NEVER write "equipe" - write "équipe". NEVER write "experience" - write "expérience". This has been a REPEATED failure. Double-check every French word before saving.
• NEVER click Submit/Apply without asking the user first - always pause at the review/confirmation page. NEVER pull the trigger on application sites without user reviewing first.
• NEVER send emails — ALWAYS draft only - Use Gmail draft (not send) for ALL emails: applications, inquiries, support requests, everything. User reviews and sends manually.
• Prefer email route over job site application - When a job listing provides both an email contact and an online application form, prefer drafting an email application over filling the web form.
• Contact person field ≠ email recipient: The contact_person field on a job may contain multiple names, roles, and annotations (e.g. "Antoine Wormser (email@x.ch), Katrin Lüthy (job poster)"). When drafting emails, extract ONLY the relevant email address and name — never dump the raw field into the To: line.
• EMAIL ALIASES: All mail (mnott@mnsoft.org, mnott@mnott.ch, etc.) delivers to mnott@mnott.de. Use coogle with mnott@mnott.de for ALL Gmail searches. The claudeaiGmail tool also works but prefer coogle.
• SeriousLetter job creation workflow: (a) Search companies DB (GET /api/v1/companies?q=) - if found use it, if not create it. (b) Create/update job with company_uuid (pulls address automatically), full JD in job_description, and priority for the fit/star rating. NEVER leave jobdescription empty, NEVER manually copy address fields when companyuuid is available.
• CV selection for jobs: Choose the right CV profile based on role type: corporate/permanent → regular CV, consulting engagement → consultant version. After copying to the job, user activates the correct language version of the exec summary in the UI. For consulting roles, also activate the consulting portfolio if relevant. Always pull CV data from the job-specific CV (GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/cvs), not the base profile — it reflects the user's curation choices.
• Letters API uses PUT, not PATCH - PATCH returns "Method Not Allowed". Always use PUT for /api/v1/letters/{id}
• MCP CONFIG LOCATION: User-level MCP servers go in ~/.claude.json (mcpServers key), NOT ~/.claude/.mcp.json. The .mcp.json is a stale/duplicate file. Also add to enabledMcpjsonServers in ~/.claude/settings.json and mcp__<name> to permissions.allow. This has been a REPEATED mistake.
• 1PASSWORD KILLS PLAYWRIGHT - 1PW extension intercepts email fields, crashes CDP connection ("Cannot access chrome-extension://"). FIX: In browserruncode, ALWAYS disable 1PW on ALL inputs FIRST, then use native value setters (NOT fill()): ```js // Step 1: Disable 1PW await page.evaluate(() => { document.querySelectorAll('input, textarea').forEach(el => { el.setAttribute('data-1p-ignore', 'true'); el.setAttribute('autocomplete', 'off'); }); }); // Step 2: Fill via native setter (not fill()) await field.evaluate((el) => { const setter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(HTMLInputElement.prototype, 'value').set; setter.call(el, 'value'); el.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true })); el.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', { bubbles: true })); }); ``` This applies to ALL sites, not just Sword Services. NEVER use Playwright fill() on email fields.
• NEVER use browser_fill_form with multiple fields - it invalidates refs after the first field (always fails on e89). Use individual browsertype/browserclick calls instead, with browser_snapshot between if needed
• NEVER include #jobs or other Obsidian tags in cover letter content sent to SeriousLetter API - tags belong in local .md files only

• COVER LETTER FORMAT (NEVER deviate): ``` ## Position Title (Ref: XXX)

  Dear ...,

  [body paragraphs]

  Matthias Nott ```

  • Subject line (Betreff) as H2 heading BEFORE the salutation
  • Two empty lines between subject line and "Dear..."
  • NEVER include address, phone, email, or LinkedIn at the bottom - those are in the letterhead template
  • Signature is ONLY "Matthias Nott" - nothing else

• Letter API field names: POST uses content, PUT uses final_content

• is_recruiting_agency: ALWAYS check if a company is a recruitment firm (JD says "on behalf of our client" etc.) and set is_recruiting_agency: true on BOTH the company AND the job
• Switzerland since 2004 (not 2003) - always use "depuis 2004" / "since 2004" / "seit 2004"
• Matthias is SWISS - Nationality is SUISSE / Swiss / Schweizerisch. NEVER put "Allemande" or "German". He is a Swiss citizen.
• NEVER probe job-room.ch API endpoints directly - The WAF detects API probing (curl to api.job-room.ch, fetching /v3/api-docs, etc.) and IP-bans immediately. Playwright for normal form filling is fine. To understand internal XHR calls, user must capture manually via Chrome DevTools - never probe programmatically.
• ORP internal API fully reverse-engineered - see memory/orp-internal-api.md for complete endpoint map, payload schema, and auth flow. Extracted from Angular bundles via Wayback Machine.
• ORP API: curl returns 401 — use browser-context fetch() only - The session is bound to browser internals. Run page.evaluate(async () => fetch(...)) inside the Playwright session instead. Token comes from sessionStorage.getItem('authenticationToken'). The _ng=ZGU= parameter is just base64("de"), NOT a CSRF token.
• ORP working endpoints (confirmed 201): POST /onlineform-service/api/npa/_action/add-work-effort?userId={userId}&_ng=ZGU= and GET /onlineform-service/api/npa/_search/by-owner-user-id?userId={userId}&_ng=ZGU=
• BatchAnalyze threshold: Only create jobs scoring >= 3/5 in SeriousLetter. 2/5 and below = skip entirely, don't bother recording.
• IC roles are valid targets: Do NOT auto-skip individual contributor roles. Evaluate IC roles like Principal Engineer, Staff/Senior Architect, Solution Architect, Lead Data Scientist, Senior AI Engineer, Field CTO if they meet the CHF 150k floor and are at senior+ level. Only skip IC roles that are clearly junior or purely coding-focused.
• ORP updates: NEVER ASK, just do it - When updating job status (rejection, applied, etc.), ALWAYS update ORP (job-room.ch) automatically without asking for confirmation. This applies to all status changes: Absage, Anstellung, applied sync, etc.
• PDF filename convention - Name first, type last: Matthias_Nott_Chef_Projet_IT_Geneva_CV.pdf and Matthias_Nott_Chef_Projet_IT_Geneva_Coverletter.pdf. NEVER type-first like "CVMatthias..." or generic like "Letter381.pdf"
• LinkedIn full JD extraction: slscrapejob, scribe extractcontent, and webfetch ALL fail (truncated meta desc or HTTP 999). Only Playwright with logged-in Chrome session works. Use `browsernavigate then browser_evaluate(() => document.querySelector('main').innerText.substring(0,5000))` to extract.
• LinkedIn BatchAnalyze workflow: Gmail search from:linkedin.com newer_than:Nd in:inbox → get_gmail_messages_content_batch(metadata) to identify job alerts → extract job IDs from URLs → triage by title/seniority/location (skip obvious mismatches) → Playwright for full JDs of >= 3/5 candidates → evaluate → create in SL
• JOB NOTE DIRECTORY CONVENTION (REPEATED failure - CHECK EVERY TIME):
  • Path: Notes/2026/MM/NNNN - YYYY-MM-DD - Position at Company/
  • Inside: NNNN - YYYY-MM-DD - Position at Company.md + artifacts/ subfolder
  • NNNN is sequential 4-digit number - to find next number: glob Notes/2026/*/0* and take max + 1
  • Example: if last is 0209, next is 0210
  • NEVER create flat files or wrong numbering - ALWAYS glob first to find the correct next number

Personal Details for Applications

• Name: Matthias Nott
• Email for applications: mnott@mnott.ch (NOT mnott@mnott.de)
• Address: Chemin de la Tarpa 8a, 1872 Troistorrents, Switzerland
• Phone: +41 76 450 26 98
• Country Phone Code: Switzerland (+41)
• Phone Number (without code): 764502698
• Nationality: Suisse / Swiss / Schweizerisch - NEVER "Allemande" or "German"
• Work permit: Citoyen.ne Suisse (NOT Livret C)
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnott/ (always include)
• Facebook, X/Twitter, Website fields: NEVER fill these

SeriousLetter External API

• FULL API SCHEMA cached at: memory/seriousletter-api.md - READ THIS instead of calling /api/v1/discover. NEVER call discover when this file exists.
• Prod server: jobs.seriousletter.com (deployed 2026-02-26)
• Dev server: dev.jobs.seriousletter.com
• Code: seriousletter.com:/opt/data/seriousletter/dev/code (develop branch)
• Feature module: backend/features/external_api/
• Frontend: src/features/settings/ (token management UI at /settings)
• API token auth via X-API-Token header
• Prod API token: 9955f8699964b70eee3b4acf8b7ca5cf7f6997ddb23d483f1c5f178754f11196
• Dev API token: d6b3f193ce94f4d42b92dab708c06cb050cf861fdf35050a7f471a8ada1edf2b
• Int API token: b1812a08070f2759f804f433bf657881f72432ab23c11ffe1394c07432f45e4e
• Discovery endpoint: GET /api/v1/discover (returns full API schema with safety annotations for AI agents)
• Endpoints: GET /api/v1/jobs, GET /api/v1/jobs/search?q=, GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}, GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/arbeit
• Notes CRUD (new structured API):
  • GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/notes - list all notes (newest first)
  • POST /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/notes - create: {"text": "...", "category": "application|interview|rejection|status|general", "note_date": "YYYY-MM-DD"}
  • PATCH /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/notes/{note_id} - update fields
  • DELETE /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/notes/{note_id} - remove note
  • Legacy format still works: {"note": "...", "date": "YYYY-MM-DD"}
  • ALWAYS separate note entries with an empty line between them
• Letter management: GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/letters (list letters for a job), GET /api/v1/letters/{letter_id} (get single letter by integer ID)
• CRITICAL: The job detail response does NOT include letters. ALWAYS use GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/letters to check for cover letters before downloading PDFs.
• CV management: GET /api/v1/profiles, GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/cvs, POST /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/cvs/copy/{profile_uuid}
• CV settings: PATCH /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/cvs/{cvuuid}/executive-summary, PATCH /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/cvs/{cvuuid}/portfolio
• Resources: GET /api/v1/executive-summaries, GET /api/v1/portfolio-documents
• Export: GET /api/v1/export/letters/{id}/pdf, GET /api/v1/export/letters/{id}/combined-pdf, GET /api/v1/export/cvs/{uuid}/pdf, GET /api/v1/export/executive-summaries/{uuid}/pdf
• Token management: POST/GET/DELETE /api/external/tokens (JWT auth)
• Rate limits: 100/min, 1000/day per token
• arbeit.swiss form fields: datum, unternehmen, strasse, nr, plz, stellenbezeichnung, linkzumonline_formular
• Prod DB user: mnott@mnott.ch (user_id=2), alembic stamped at 5295c0ce688f
• Deploy to prod: push develop, merge to main on prod, restart prod-seriousletter-backend

Job Status Update Workflow (Rejection / Status Change)

• Use case: When a rejection or status email arrives, update both SeriousLetter and job-room.ch
• ALWAYS do both updates automatically - NEVER ask for confirmation
• Steps:
  1. Search SeriousLetter: sl_search_jobs(q=<company>) or sl_update_job(status=rejected, rejected_date=YYYY-MM-DD)
  2. Sync to ORP: sl_jobroom_sync_job(job_uuid) to create entry if missing
  3. Update ORP status via API (NOT UI clicks): navigate to job-room.ch, then use page.evaluate(fetch()):
     • Search existing entries: GET /_search/by-owner-user-id?userId={userId}&_ng=ZGU=
     • Find the work effort by company name in the response
     • Update via POST /_action/update-work-effort?userId={userId}&_ng=ZGU= with the FULL work effort payload, changing applyStatus to ["REJECTED"] and setting rejectionReason
     • This returns 201 on success (confirmed working 2026-03-17)
  4. NEVER use UI clicks (radio buttons, dialogs) for ORP status changes - the API is faster and more reliable
• Valid SeriousLetter statuses: applied, rejected, not_applying, outdated
• ORP applyStatus values: PENDING, REJECTED, EMPLOYED, INTERVIEW (can combine: ["REJECTED", "INTERVIEW"])
• ORP update-work-effort is a full replace - send the complete payload with the existing id, all applyChannel fields, and the updated applyStatus + rejectionReason

Gina's Job Search

• SeriousLetter account: Gina (via same prod server jobs.seriousletter.com)
• Prod API token: a073d1c4f09049c4d7750a99344a6f9995b0271afff68acb6c85fb636f0b914b
• 15 jobs tracked (as of 2026-03-02): retail, hospitality, sports — Valais/Vaud region, French-language roles
• Active applications: Clinique de la Source (cuisinière), Garden Centre Brönnimann (horticultrice), Maxi Bazar, Decathlon Conthey, LANDI Rhône-Lavaux
• Manor SA applications (applied 2026-02-25, ORP added 2026-03-02): 3 jobs, contact Melanie Costa Pocas, address Avenue de l'Europe 21, 1870 Monthey
  • Ref 7105: Collaboratrice de vente (take-away) 70% - Vevey (Fit 7/10 APPLY)
  • Ref 7125: Cuisinier/ere 60% - Vevey (Fit 4/10 MAYBE)
  • Ref 7223: Patissier/ere (Manora) 60% - Monthey (Fit 5/10 MAYBE-APPLY)
• Same API endpoints and workflows as Matthias's account, different token

ORP (job-room.ch) Form Automation

• Primary: Internal API via page.evaluate(fetch(...)) - ALWAYS use this, NEVER click UI
• For new entries: POST /_action/add-work-effort (or use sl_jobroom_sync_job MCP tool)
• For status updates: POST /_action/update-work-effort with full payload + updated applyStatus/rejectionReason
• For searching: GET /_search/by-owner-user-id?userId={userId}&_ng=ZGU= returns {content: [{workEfforts: [...]}]}
• Auth: sessionStorage.getItem('authenticationToken') + X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest header
• UI clicking is DEPRECATED - only use as absolute last resort if API fails
• URL for new entry (fallback only): https://www.job-room.ch/work-efforts/create
• PLZ/Ort combobox REQUIRES browser_type with slowly: true — fill() does not trigger autocomplete dropdown; after typing, click the option from the listbox
• Use browser_fill_form for all other fields (textbox, checkbox, radio) in a single call for efficiency
• Stellenbezeichnung: include job percentage and ref number, e.g. "Patissier/ere (Manora) 60% (Ref. 7223)" (max 100 chars)
• After save: dialog shows "Arbeitsbemühung gespeichert" with "Weitere erfassen" and "Zur Übersicht" buttons — ALWAYS click "Zur Übersicht" to return to overview (or navigate to /work-efforts via JXA if dialog lost)
• Foreign country addresses: When Land is changed from Schweiz, the PLZ/Ort combobox is replaced by separate PLZ (textbox) and Ort (textbox) fields — no autocomplete needed, just fill directly
• Foreign PLZ field ID: alv-input-field-home.tools.job-publication.locality.zip-0, Ort field ID: alv-input-field-global.address.city-0
• Fields that reset between "Weitere erfassen" entries: PLZ/Ort, Stellenbezeichnung, Link zum Online-Formular, Kontaktperson
• Fields that retain values: Wie (Elektronisch), RAV (Nein), Pensum, Ergebnis
• Manor SA address used for Grazyna's applications: Avenue de l'Europe 21, 1870 Monthey; contact: Melanie Costa Pocas
• macOS Automator fallback for ORP (when Playwright MCP crashes):
  • Field IDs follow pattern: alv-date-input-*-0, alv-input-field-*-0, alv-single-typeahead-*-0
  • Key IDs: alv-date-input-portal.global.date-0 (datum), alv-input-field-home.tools.job-publication.company.name-0 (company), alv-input-field-home.tools.job-publication.company.street-0 (street), alv-input-field-home.tools.job-publication.company.house-number-0 (house nr), alv-input-field-portal.global.job-title-0 (title), alv-input-field-portal.work-efforts.edit-form.company.online-form-url.label-0 (URL)
  • Use React native setter for text fields: Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(HTMLInputElement.prototype,'value').set.call(el,val) + dispatch input+change
  • PLZ/Ort combobox: JS focus on the typeahead input, then System Events slow typing + keyCode 125 (down) + keyCode 36 (enter)
  • Checkboxes (Elektronisch, Nein): standard document.getElementById(id).click() works
  • "Speichern" button: document.querySelector('button.btn-primary') or find by "Speichern" text
  • "Zur Übersicht" button after save: find button containing "Zur Übersicht" text in the success dialog

Application Form Automation (Phase 2)

• NEVER click Submit/Apply without asking the user first — always pause at the review/confirmation page and let the user decide when to submit
• DOB for Matthias: 14.05.1971
• Salary floor: NEVER below CHF 150'000 — research market rate, set range starting at 150k
• ALWAYS use SeriousLetter API export endpoints for PDFs — NEVER convert markdown to PDF
• Annexes directory: /Users/i052341/Daten/Cloud/09 - Job Search/06 - Annexes/ — Zeugnisse, Reference Letters. Already in Playwright sandbox.
• Per-ATS form patterns: See Jobs skill workflows/ATS.md for Oracle HCM, Personio, SmartRecruiters, SuccessFactors specifics
• The API renders with proper templates and reflects any UI edits the user made
• Combined PDF: GET /api/v1/export/letters/{id}/combined-pdf — bundles cover letter + exec summary + CV + optional portfolio
• CV upload strategy based on form layout:
  • Separate CV + CL uploads → upload each individually (CV PDF + letter PDF)
  • Only CV upload, no CL option → upload the COMBINED PDF instead of standalone CV
  • CV upload + CL textarea → upload COMBINED PDF as CV, AND paste cover letter as plain text (no markdown) into textarea
  • Decision can only be made after seeing the full form (CL options may appear on later screens — scout first)
• Always use the job-specific CV (from /api/v1/jobs/{uuid}/cvs), not the profile CV
• API now has default template settings — no need to pass template params for CV or letter exports
• German letter template is a layout choice, not a language choice — always use German layout
• GET /api/v1/jobs/{uuid} may NOT include letters in response — discover letter IDs by checking nearby IDs via export endpoint, or ask user
• When user says they edited a letter in the UI, the markdown file is OUT OF SYNC — do NOT re-upload from markdown
• Arbeitszeugnis path: /Users/i052341/Daten/Cloud/06 - Studium/Zeugnisse/Zeugnisse - Henley - MSc - Liverpool - MBA.pdf (stable, don't copy each time)
• For uploads: try the original path first. Only copy to artifacts/ if Playwright sandbox blocks it
• Personio datepicker fields: use browserclick + browsertype(slowly=true), NOT browserfillform (causes disconnect)
• Playwright recovery: if "browser context closed", use browserclose (may error) then browsernavigate to reconnect
• Playwright MCP crashes with "Another browser context is being closed" or "Target page, context or browser has been closed" — user must reconnect MCP server manually
• When Playwright MCP crashes mid-form, fall back to macOS Automator (JXA) immediately — don't retry Playwright
• Playwright MCP uses separate Chrome with persistent profiles (no --extension mode, avoids PAI MCP Bridge conflicts)
• Profile dirs: ~/.claude/playwright-profiles/matthias/ and ~/.claude/playwright-profiles/grazyna/
• To switch profiles for Grazyna: edit ~/.claude/.mcp.json, change user-data-dir path to grazyna's
• First login to each site (job-room.ch etc.) needed once per profile, then persists
• Config change requires Claude session restart to take effect

ATS & Browser Automation Details

• See `memory/ats-automation.md` for detailed per-ATS patterns (SmartRecruiters, Ashby, Sword, Workday, Playwright crash recovery, platform decision tree, JXA fallback patterns)